How cool-hand Kalyn Ponga outsmarted the Raiders

Ponga had every right to be tentative in his return from a high-grade injury to the AC joint in his shoulder, barely two weeks after he was smashed in a tackle by Cronulla centre Jesse Ramien.

Pre-game painkilling injections and a steely mindset were required as Newcastle's skipper braved the pain barrier against a rugged Raiders team hell-bent on adding to his duress at every opportunity.

The 25-year-old, however, kept a cool head, even after losing primary playmaker Jackson Hastings to an ankle injury in the process of conceding a 16-6 half-time lead.

After the break, Ponga inspired Newcastle's fightback by scoring a try himself, backing up on the inside, before switching the point of attack to ignite Newcastle's right edge.

"When you lose Jackson, then Kalyn's got to reconfigure," O'Brien explained.

"He's got to coach Kurt [Mann] on the run how to play five-eighth the way we want him to.

"But then he's got to have the presence of mind to figure out we've been heavily left-sided and we need to flip around to the right.

"And he did that.

"He popped up on the right and we got two tries down there.

"That's pretty remarkable for him to do after just a five-minute half-time talk ... to get himself right physically to go out there, but also to have the nous to go: 'I need to start attacking down the right'.

"It's a credit to him. It's outstanding."

O'Brien said Ponga, who has staged a stunning comeback from the concussion bouts that sidelined him late last season and early this year, had been "an inspiration to the team all week".

"Well, he's been an inspiration to the team all year," he added.

Asked after the game how his shoulder pulled up, Ponga replied: "It'll be sore after this, but it's pretty good."

Meanwhile, O'Brien paid tribute to the 29,548-strong crowd - Newcastle's third successive sell-out attendance - saying they played an "unbelievable" role in the victory.

On Saturday, the boot will be on the other foot when the Knights take on the Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium, but O'Brien suggested that might not be an advantage for the home team.

"Obviously it's been a big week for us," he said.

"We understand the importance of what it means to those people who were there [on Sunday]. There's probably still 30,000 of them standing there now.

"They were unbelievable. So loud. I guess the enormity of that sort of weighs on the team, at times.

"But we wouldn't have it any other way.

"And I guess the opposition [this week] will feel the weight of a nation on their shoulders. They'll know what it feels like."

The Warriors have attracted huge support this season and Mt Smart is certain to be a full house for their first home final since 2008.

"With that comes a bit of pressure," O'Brien said.

"We know what that feels like. It'll be interesting to see how they handle all that.

"It's a good story, what they did when they were out here, away from their fans. I'm sure they're really excited to pack their stadium.

"But that will be for them to handle this week. We'll just bunker down and go about out business."

The Knights are chasing their 11th straight victory after breaking the club-record winning streak on Sunday.

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